Bedford
Timeline
Goldington
Places > Bedford
1086: Mill mentioned in The Domesday Book as worth 30s and a 100 eels.
1165: Newnham Priory founded by Simon de Beauchamp and at the time of the Dissolution included "ponds fish ponds and a meadow called the grete gardeyn with stone walls and a moat and a water mill".
1209: The names of the Vicars of Goldington are recorded from this date but no part of the present church is older than the late 13th century. The earliest feature is the arch to the south chapel. The rest of the building is 15th century.
1541: Henry V111 dissolves Newnham Priory.
1650s: Goldington Hall built.
1671: The first recorded occupant of Goldington Hall was Nicholas Luke who was mentioned in the Hearth Tax Returns of 1671. He was recorded as having 10 fire-hearths and stoves and was liable to pay two shillings per year for each hearth.
1825: Congregational Chapel erected.
1844: William Kenworthy Browne became tenant; one of his most frequent visitors was his close friend Edward Fitzgerald, poet and translator of "The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam".
1847: Goldington Enclosure Act passed.
1859: The church was completely renovated.
1866: Public Elementary School built.
1874: Local Historian William Marsh Harvey author of "The History of the Hundred of Willey", took the Hall over from the Polhill family. As it was practically in ruins, three years were spent in rebuilding and renovating the Hall.
1876: The chancel was restored and re-roofed.
1879: An organ was installed in the church at a cost of 170, raised by voluntary subscription.
1899: Church bells rehung in new oak frames at the cost of 100.
1904: A reading and recreation clubroom was built at a cost of 520.
1928: Goldington Hall purchased by David Robinson founder of Robinson Rentals, Bedford and millionaire racehorse owner.
1934: By the North Bedfordshire Review Order Goldington Parish with the exceptions of portions added to Ravensden and Renhold was included in the Borough of Bedford.
1934: Church Hall erected with seating for 200.
1948: Goldington School's first May Festival, May 8th, watched by more than 6,000.
1953: Goldington Bury a late 18th century house acquired by Bedford Borough Council.
1957: Goldington Power Station officially opened in August although the power station had been in part operation for two years. The coal-fired plant employed a workforce of 240 people. With its six boilers and six turbines it served part of the South Eastern region with electricity.
1967: New parish church hall opened.
1972: Bass Charrington acquired Goldington Hall from Bedford Borough Council who had converted the building into flats and after extensive alterations opened the Hall as "The Falstaff" in October.
1976: The Century Public House built.
1983: Goldington Power Station closes.
1986: The four Goldington Power Station cooling towers demolished.
1987: The two 300 feet chimneys of Goldington Power Station demolished.
1988: Goldington Road Tesco store opens, covering an area of 65,000 square feet.
1992: Goldington School re-starts the May Festival, which had been discontinued in the 1960s, the Festival held on the 16th May.
Sources:
- Arthur Mee's Bedfordshire and Huntingdonshire, revised and edited by Joyce Godber, 1973
- Kelly's Directories of Bedfordshire in Bedford Central Library
- Newspaper Cuttings Collection in Bedford Central Library
- Victoria County History of Bedfordshire 3 Vols. (1972, first published 1912)
Page last updated: 22nd January 2014